Comments on: The Hidden Effects of RMT http://weblog.probablynot.com/2006/11/22/the-hidden-effects-of-rmt/ -emptying my brain onto the internet since 1998... Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:38:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Because it’s not over until I say it’s over | Mahogany Finish http://weblog.probablynot.com/2006/11/22/the-hidden-effects-of-rmt/comment-page-1/#comment-54638 Because it’s not over until I say it’s over | Mahogany Finish Sat, 23 Feb 2008 04:27:00 +0000 http://weblog.probablynot.com/2006/11/22/the-hidden-effects-of-rmt/#comment-54638 [...] a mere twenty months ago. Or the somewhat more civil but nonetheless passionate clash of wills occuring some time later [...] [...] a mere twenty months ago. Or the somewhat more civil but nonetheless passionate clash of wills occuring some time later [...]

]]> By: Because it’s not over until I say it is « Mahogany Finish http://weblog.probablynot.com/2006/11/22/the-hidden-effects-of-rmt/comment-page-1/#comment-54214 Because it’s not over until I say it is « Mahogany Finish Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:24:18 +0000 http://weblog.probablynot.com/2006/11/22/the-hidden-effects-of-rmt/#comment-54214 [...] a mere twenty months ago. Or the somewhat more civil but nonetheless passionate clash of wills occuring some time later [...] [...] a mere twenty months ago. Or the somewhat more civil but nonetheless passionate clash of wills occuring some time later [...]

]]> By: Jason http://weblog.probablynot.com/2006/11/22/the-hidden-effects-of-rmt/comment-page-1/#comment-19999 Jason Fri, 24 Nov 2006 15:34:45 +0000 http://weblog.probablynot.com/2006/11/22/the-hidden-effects-of-rmt/#comment-19999 We could easily go round and round on this... but also realise that your friend, buying gold once, for one item, is not the target audience for RMT based games. The target for an RMT based game would be someone who is likely to buy something on a more regular basis, be it gold, items, new textures, new dungeons... little charges so you are thinking "... it's only 99 cents ..." and not paying attention to the fact you've already spent $40 this month. Your example, of a one time purchase, while strictly RMT, is not really what people are talking about when they discuss RMT hurting games. Brad buys gold, in multiple games, every month, in order to "keep up", even when he isn't behind at all. We could easily go round and round on this… but also realise that your friend, buying gold once, for one item, is not the target audience for RMT based games. The target for an RMT based game would be someone who is likely to buy something on a more regular basis, be it gold, items, new textures, new dungeons… little charges so you are thinking “… it’s only 99 cents …” and not paying attention to the fact you’ve already spent $40 this month.

Your example, of a one time purchase, while strictly RMT, is not really what people are talking about when they discuss RMT hurting games. Brad buys gold, in multiple games, every month, in order to “keep up”, even when he isn’t behind at all.

]]> By: Psychochild http://weblog.probablynot.com/2006/11/22/the-hidden-effects-of-rmt/comment-page-1/#comment-19983 Psychochild Thu, 23 Nov 2006 20:33:51 +0000 http://weblog.probablynot.com/2006/11/22/the-hidden-effects-of-rmt/#comment-19983 he now won€™t have the stories to tell of doing the quest. [...] Frankly, a story about a quest is bound to be infinitely more interesting than €œAnd then I clicked the Paypal button and waited for the ingame contact for how to obtain my gold.€

Not really. The story would have been, “And then we wiped for the fourth time in a row.” ;) The quest was pretty tough, at least back when we attempted it, so I really don’t blame him for buying his mount. Not that I would do the same, mind you.

Anyway, my point was that he still had 99.9% of the same stories we could all share. Not to say your point is invalid, but it’s not as dire in every situation.

P.S., you should increase the font size on the comments. Very hard to read, especially light gray on dark gray. A larger font would be nice. Take care!

]]> By: Jason http://weblog.probablynot.com/2006/11/22/the-hidden-effects-of-rmt/comment-page-1/#comment-19964 Jason Wed, 22 Nov 2006 23:40:27 +0000 http://weblog.probablynot.com/2006/11/22/the-hidden-effects-of-rmt/#comment-19964 Well, as I said, Brad was just a late adopter, or playing "too many" games at once, while Mike and I tend to just play one or two games at a time. Brad buys gold to buy items to make exp churning faster to catch up for the fact that he's been farting around with fifteen games... in all of which he spends money in order to get over the fact that he doesn't devote enough time to them. And then, of course, he complains that he's broke all the time and that he "has" to spend money to play... all arguments that he should just play a couple games are met with a blank stare. City of Heroes worked great for us... Sidekicking and Mentoring meant that he didn't feel left out. Besides, there was nothing in that game for him to RMT except entire characters, something even he won't do. And your paladin friend, since he bought a mount, he now won't have the stories to tell of doing the quest. He paid money and as a result now has one less (or one different, if you insist on being absolutely objective) thing to talk about. Frankly, a story about a quest is bound to be infinitely more interesting than "And then I clicked the Paypal button and waited for the ingame contact for how to obtain my gold." Well, as I said, Brad was just a late adopter, or playing “too many” games at once, while Mike and I tend to just play one or two games at a time. Brad buys gold to buy items to make exp churning faster to catch up for the fact that he’s been farting around with fifteen games… in all of which he spends money in order to get over the fact that he doesn’t devote enough time to them. And then, of course, he complains that he’s broke all the time and that he “has” to spend money to play… all arguments that he should just play a couple games are met with a blank stare.

City of Heroes worked great for us… Sidekicking and Mentoring meant that he didn’t feel left out. Besides, there was nothing in that game for him to RMT except entire characters, something even he won’t do.

And your paladin friend, since he bought a mount, he now won’t have the stories to tell of doing the quest. He paid money and as a result now has one less (or one different, if you insist on being absolutely objective) thing to talk about. Frankly, a story about a quest is bound to be infinitely more interesting than “And then I clicked the Paypal button and waited for the ingame contact for how to obtain my gold.”

]]> By: Psychochild http://weblog.probablynot.com/2006/11/22/the-hidden-effects-of-rmt/comment-page-1/#comment-19963 Psychochild Wed, 22 Nov 2006 23:05:35 +0000 http://weblog.probablynot.com/2006/11/22/the-hidden-effects-of-rmt/#comment-19963 The alternative, of course, is that your friend Brad might not have been able to play with you at all, assuming his time was limited outside of the game. He would have to sacrifice some other part of his life so he can spend more time in the game in order to have those stories. For some people, they can't just quit their jobs in order to make that happen. Not all RMT has to cause this particular problem, though. While playing WoW, a friend of mine bought some gold for his epic mount. He spent about $300 for the 1000 gold for the mount (this was a while ago, price have dropped since then), and got a speedy mount. However, he still went through instances and could share in our stories about the pull in Scholomace that went bad, etc. The interesting irony here is that the character was a Paladin; he thought it was easier to buy the gold instead of trying to do the difficult (and still expensive) quest for the Paladin class epic mount. In the end, he didn't feel like farming or getting really lucky in order to buy his mount or do his class quest. The money spent was worth it to him. Note that I've never personally bought any items, but mostly because I'm super-cheap. :P Well, I also prefer to try to conquer the game on my own terms, but that doesn't mean that people willing to pay a bit more are "playing wrong", they're just doing something I wouldn't. Another perspective. The alternative, of course, is that your friend Brad might not have been able to play with you at all, assuming his time was limited outside of the game. He would have to sacrifice some other part of his life so he can spend more time in the game in order to have those stories. For some people, they can’t just quit their jobs in order to make that happen.

Not all RMT has to cause this particular problem, though. While playing WoW, a friend of mine bought some gold for his epic mount. He spent about $300 for the 1000 gold for the mount (this was a while ago, price have dropped since then), and got a speedy mount. However, he still went through instances and could share in our stories about the pull in Scholomace that went bad, etc. The interesting irony here is that the character was a Paladin; he thought it was easier to buy the gold instead of trying to do the difficult (and still expensive) quest for the Paladin class epic mount. In the end, he didn’t feel like farming or getting really lucky in order to buy his mount or do his class quest. The money spent was worth it to him.

Note that I’ve never personally bought any items, but mostly because I’m super-cheap. :P Well, I also prefer to try to conquer the game on my own terms, but that doesn’t mean that people willing to pay a bit more are “playing wrong”, they’re just doing something I wouldn’t.

Another perspective.

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